Clearwire introduces Mobile WiMAX “Clear” service to Portland Oregon
January 6, 2009
Clearwire today officially transformed Portland into the fastest unwired city in the West, and home to one of the first 4G WiMAX wireless broadband services in the world, called Clear. With Clear, consumers and businesses can access the Internet wirelessly, at true broadband speeds ? at home, in the office, around the Portland metro area, and on the go.
“Today is a historic day for the evolution of mobile computing and communications services in Portland, and the U.S.,” said Benjamin G. Wolff, chief executive officer of Clearwire. “Clearwire is reinventing wireless by delivering an unmatched combination of Internet speed and mobility. We’re providing a valuable service designed to improve our customers’ productivity and make their lives more enjoyable, wherever they happen to be in our coverage area.”
[Read more]
LG announces wearable 3G touch phone
December 29, 2008
LG Electronics announced it will unveil a wearable ‘3G Touch Watch Phone’ (model: LG-GD910) at the upcoming CES 2009 held in Las Vegas.
Boasting a thickness of 13.9mm, the 3G Touch Watch Phone delivers functions of a cell phone on a small size device like a watch. In particular, it supports 3G HSDPA at speeds to 7.2Mbps as well as video telephony with a built-in camera.
[Read more]
Sprint announces dual 3G/4G aircard from Franklin Wireless
December 17, 2008
Sprint announced it will make the first 3G/4G dual-mode device, the Sprint 3G/4G USB Modem U300, which operates on both the Sprint 3G and 4G networks, available in US retail stores Dec. 21.
Sprint launched 4G in Baltimore in September and plans to launch in other markets across the country throughout 2009. The device will enable customers to experience high-speed Internet access, greater productivity and enhanced multimedia quality throughout 4G markets, and offer access to the existing Sprint 3G network virtually everywhere else. This is the first product available in the US to offer both 3G and 4G connectivity.
[Read more]
HTC announces T8290 MAX 4G GSM/WiMAX handset for Scartel Yota in Russia
November 12, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
HTC announced the dual-radio GSM/WiMAX T8290 handheld, dubbed “MAX 4G”, today. Rumors and photos surfaced last month of an HTC Windows Mobile device with a Russian user interface and claims of WiMAX support. Russian operator Scartel and HTC Corporation today announced the dual protocol handset as a featured device for its Yota mobile WiMAX service.
Voice calls over the cellular GSM service use a SIM card from a range of Russian network operators. When both callers are using the Yota WiMAX network, the call will automatically be routed as a VoIP session. The Yota phone service also supports unique business applications, allowing users to switch between English and Russian contact records while providing functionality such as call holding, conference calling and video calling using the VGA camera on the front of the device.
[Read more]
Mobile Broadband Survey Finds Business Model Change Key to Maintaining Profitability
October 30, 2008
Survey of 16 Operators Provides Insight into the Need for Designing New Business Models for the Mobile Broadband Market
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
Camiant, Inc. announced newly published research from Parks Associates, “Mobile Broadband in North America and Europe: Change is Key to Maintaining Profitability,” that explores mobile broadband adoption and growth trends in Europe and North America as well as operators’ capabilities to control and monetize growth. The custom research outlines the challenges in the mobile broadband marketplace and proposes a set of elements for new business models to alleviate expected negative consequences of broadband commoditization.
Research firm Parks Associates interviewed executives at 16 mobile broadband providers in Canada, Eastern and Western Europe, Turkey, Scandinavia, and the United States to determine adoption and predominant usage patterns as well as operator capabilities with respect to network and user control and interest in pursuing new mobile broadband business models. The study’s definition of broadband follows the FCC (U.S. regulatory) definition of more than 200 Kbps in either direction (upstream or downstream). This definition permits low data rates services offered by GSM and CDMA operators to be considered as consumers saturate the data portion of the network.
[Read more]
Market Forces to Drive Embedded Cellular Modem Sales Over 83 Million Units in 2013
October 22, 2008
Although embedded cellular modem sales have been slow to take off, momentum is building for increased sales, according to a recent study from ABI Research. One recent development is the GSMA’s Mobile Broadband Service Mark initiative which, backed by media spending of $1 billion, will create awareness of laptops with embedded connectivity.
Other drivers include: Qualcomm’s Gobi chipset that enables modem connectivity on both GSM and CDMA networks; lower mobile broadband pricing; and networks maintaining their current EV-DO Rev A and HSPA air interfaces for at least two more years. ABI Research forecasts that these and other market forces will increase embedded cellular modem sales to nearly $9 billion in 2013.
[Read more]
ORR Technology Announces Mobile WiMAX Device Guide
October 15, 2008
ORR Technology, LLC today announced availability of its Mobile WiMAX Device Guide. The guide is the definitive source for announced and commercially available mobile WiMAX devices. Mobile WiMAX refers to products that conform to the IEEE 802.16e-2005 technical standard for mobile broadband access.
The Mobile WiMAX Device Guide is the first to provide network operators and ecosystem vendors with a comprehensive view of product announcements and specifications for mobile WiMAX devices. Developed through extensive industry experience, the Mobile WiMAX Device Guide includes the breadth of information to accurately portray the evolution of mobile broadband equipment.
[Read more]
U.S.: WiMAX is here, proclaims Sprint and Intel
October 8, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
“It’s not slideware - WiMAX is here now,” said Sprint chief Dan Hesse as he addressed the crowd assembled in Baltimore, Maryland today for the formal launch of Sprint XOHM mobile broadband service. “It will take time to build it everywhere. Sprint will be launching 3G/4G multimode devices later this year for ubiquitous coverage.” What will people do with 4G services? “The killer application is video,” added Hesse. “And a lot of other great applications too. For example, public workers can pull down detailed, bandwidth-intensive architectural plans.”
Executives from Intel and the XOHM business spoke about the milestone and brought vendor and ecosystem partners on stage to be recognized during the event that culminated in the “ribbon cutting” of cables. The ritual signified the focus on delivering multi-megabit speeds to business and consumer customers without the restriction of location associated with DSL, cable and leased copper T1 lines.
[Read more]
LG Electronics picks Ericsson for HSPA modules
September 29, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
Ericsson announced today that it has been selected by LG Electronics to provide mobile broadband modules based on high speed packet access (HSPA). LG Electronics notebooks and netbooks will include the modules starting in Q3 2008.
Ericsson developed its own HSPA chipset technology, based on a collection of mobile telephony protocols that extend and improve the performance of existing UMTS protocols. Two standards, HSDPA and HSUPA, have been established by ETSI and a further standard, HSPA+, is soon to be released.
[Read more]
Mobile Broadband News Podcast: Episode 12
September 29, 2008
Mobile Broadband News Podcast: Episode 12 for 28 September 2008 is now available.
The MBN Podcast is an audio recap of top stories in the mobile broadband industry. Click on the link above to download the MP3 file, or add Mobile Broadband News to your iTunes Podcast list.
Alcatel-Lucent announced a location-based services platform that provides messaging rules based on geofencing. What is geofencing and what does it offer mobile users?
Alcatel-Lucent launches location-driven services platform and mobile social network
September 11, 2008
be Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
Alcatel-Lucent announced a location-driven services platform called the Geographic Messaging Services Platform (GMSP). The platform supports targeted mobile content messages, push advertising and social networking services through use of a “geofencing” engine.
Geofencing is the concept of establishing a virtual “fence” around a particular location or individual. When a mobile phone user crosses a given “fence,” it triggers the delivery of an SMS text message or multimedia message that is relevant to that individual and that location, such as a promotion for a particular store, or the presence of a friend or colleague in the area.
[Read more]
Top Global launches TD-HSPA Mobile Router at the 2008 Olympics Games
August 7, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
Top Global announced its Time Division High Speed Packet Access (TD-HSPA) Router was launched during the 2008 Olympics Games opening day. Top Global’s Mobile Routers were used to provide network connectivity to numerous bank ATMs, information and payment Kiosks in an effort to help to increase the efficiency, safety and convenience of the visiting dignitaries, volunteers and spectators during the Beijing Olympic Games.
Top Global developed and patented its MobileBridge platform, which serves as a gateway/router linking Third Generation (3G) Cellular network and Wi-Fi/LAN networks. Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) is a 3G mobile telecommunication standards being pursued in China. The national commercial trials of the TD-SCDMA network launched on April 1, 2008 and is expected to reach 60,000 users by the end of the year. TD-HSPA is the high speed data evolution of the TD-SCDMA, and can reach 2.8 Mbps peak speed. Multiple products from Top Global can support TD-HSPA including the MB8000, MB6800 and MB5000. Enterprises in China can get wireless Internet connectivity anywhere, at anytime within the coverage of a TD-HSPA network.
[Read more]
LG launches HB620T DVB-T phone in Germany
June 2, 2008
by Jeff Orr
Editor, Mobile Broadband News
LG Electronics announced the launch of the first DVB-T phone in Germany, model HB620T. DVB-T stands for terrestrial digital video broadcast. DVB-T services are expected to provide mobile TV at no additional cost for programming. An existing service in some European countries, DVB-H or handheld digital video broadcast, is a paid mobile TV service in markets such as Finland, Italy, and the Netherlands.
The HB620T is a folding handset designed around a 2″ screen. The handset features: 7.2 Mbps HSDPA downloading, a full Internet browsing experience, an MP3 player and Bluetooth connectivity. LG also incorporates a noise-deadening processor called Mobile XD Engine to improves signal clarity.
[Read more]
Mobile Broadband News Podcast: Episode 11 - The first mobile WiMAX Forum Certified products announced
April 9, 2008
Mobile Broadband News Podcast: Episode 11 for 9 April 2008 is now available.
The MBN Podcast is an audio recap of top stories in the mobile broadband industry. Click on the link above to download the MP3 file, or add Mobile Broadband News to your iTunes Podcast list.
WiMAX Forum announced today that 8 products have achieved the WiMAX Forum Certified mark for 802.16e-2005. What does this mean? I tell you everything you could want to know in about 10 minutes.
First Mobile WiMAX products receive WiMAX Forum Certified mark
April 9, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
The first eight products — four base stations and four mobile stations — receiving the WiMAX Forum Certified mark based on the IEEE802.16e-2005 standard have been announced by WiMAX Forum.
These products must meet or surpass the certification program requirements using WiMAX Certification Program Release 1.0 Wave 1 requirements. Wave 1 systems are not tested for advanced antenna capabilities such as beamforming or MIMO, which is addressed in all other Mobile WiMAX certification profiles dubbed “Wave 2″ also starting the certification testing process today.
[Read more]
